Proverbs 19:5
Liars
1. False: lie; deception; falsehood; deception; misleading; falseness; that which causes a mistaken belief.
a. Prov. 17:4 – false lips – a liar – deceitful words
b. Prov. 11:18 – used of deceitful work
c. There are various ways to be deceitful… our words, our actions, even the rolling of the eyes, or the look on one’s face, body language, and even silence… can promote a lie or deception.
2. Witness: i.e., a person who gives testimony and provides information about a situation; refers to the testimony given, written or oral.
a. A witness is that which testifies to something… it communicates a message as testimony or evidence of a fact.
b. A witness can be either a truthful witness or a false witness…
c. A witness can accurately testify to the truth or a witness can deceitfully testify to something he knows to be inaccurate.
d. Gen. 31:50 – God Himself is the ultimate witness to all we do, say, and think. He knows all the facts and is a truthful witness.
e. Christ is referred to in Revelation as the faithful and true witness. (Rev.3:14)
f. Our witness or testimony ought to be like that of God—faithful and true… honest… genuine… without guile or deception.
3. A false witness: one who deceives by giving misleading, false evidence, whether written or oral testimony.
a. Deut. 19:18 – a false witness in court
b. Ex. 23:1 – those who bear false witness are putting their hands with the wicked – siding with the wicked.
c. In court this can determine the outcome of the case.
d. Men have been convicted and sent to prison—even to the death chamber because of false witnesses who lied.
1. Lies: falsehood; deception; any form of untruth…
a. Num. 23:19 – God cannot lie. (God is not man that He should lie…)
b. Heb.6:18 and Titus 1:2 – “God which cannot lie…”
• It is contrary to His nature. God is Light. God is Truth. Jesus said, “I am the Truth.”
• Lying is being UNLIKE God… as contrary to His nature as it comes!
• It is the opposite of being godly; it is ungodly.
• Thus all sin is against God—it is an affront to TRUTH and God is the Truth.
c. John 8:44 – Satan is a liar and is the father of all lies.
• Lying is unlike God.
• But it is LIKE the devil. Lying is satanic.
d. Lying is both ungodly and satanic. It is a very serious issue.
2. Speaketh: to cause to exhale or breathe out.
a. It is a poetic or figurative way of expressing speech – breathing out words.
b. The Bible is God-breathed. The product of God’s breath is TRUTH… His infallible Word.
c. The product of the breath of a liar is not truth but deception… dishonesty… lies…
3. He that speaketh lies:
a. This expression describes a person for whom lying is as natural, easy, and as commonplace as breathing…
b. A truthful person breathes truth. A liar breathes lies.
c. He opens his mouth and lies come forth! He is a liar. It’s as easy as breathing to him.
4. God HATES this sin.
a. Prov. 6:16-19 – These are six sins God especially hates… and two of the six relate to lying!
b. Prov. 12:22 – lying lips are an abomination to the Lord.
5. Lying destroys the spiritual life.
a. Isa. 59:2, 3 – you can’t pray with the sin of lying in your heart.
• God chooses not to hear your prayers.
• They are a sham.
• There is a wall between you and God until that sin is confessed and forsaken.
• There is no fellowship with God as long as the sin of lying is tolerated in the heart.
• The psalmist said, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” (Ps. 66:18)
• As long as we allow a lie to be lodged in our heart—we have no relationship to God… to prayer life… and no fellowship.
• We can pretend—but that’s all it is: phony pretense.
b. Psalm 101:7 – David knew it would adversely affect him and his kingdom. He refused to hire known, habitual liars to work with him in his kingdom. Godly people should avoid habitual liars.
The Parallel in the two parts of the Proverb
1. False and lies are virtually synonymous
2. But there is a slight contrast between witness and speaketh.
a. A witness is more generic and communicates in various ways.
b. Speaking is more concrete… breathing out lies.
c. The contrast also may imply different venues of lying: a false witness in court—and one who lies in common, everyday conversation.
d. Of course the courtroom setting causes the lie to be also the crime of perjury… and it is injurious to person lied about… and detrimental to justice!
1. Unpunished: to be free; innocent; cleared; pure; pardoned; exempt from obligation or punishment.
2. Jer. 30:11 – God will not allow Israel to go unpunished for their sin.
a. He will correct her “in measure” – in proportion to the crime.
b. In other words, God will not go overboard on His punishment, nor will He ignore their sin and let them go unpunished.
3. Justice demands that sin be punished.
a. Prov. 11:21 and 16:5 – regardless of the numbers involved, sin will not go unpunished.
b. No one can use the excuse, “Well everybody’s doing it!”
c. God is not impressed with numbers.
d. If everybody joins hands to oppose God and live in wickedness, then God will punish EVERYBODY.
e. Consider the flood.
4. Deut. 19:16-21 – When false witnesses ARE punished, it causes others to fear… lest they also be punished.
a. The penalty attached has a deterring factor.
b. And note how FAR the Law was willing to take this principle!
c. God takes this matter seriously.
5. The one who LIES shall not go unpunished. There are consequences for lying.
1. Escape: to slip forth, slip out, slip away, escape.
a. Here it is used of slipping away from judgment or punishment.
2. The one who breathes out lies shall not slip away and escape punishment…
a. Is that really true? Is it true in all cases?
b. Surely we know people who have lied and deceived others and have never been caught. Nobody ever found out. They seemed to get away with it.
c. BUT the eyes of the Lord are everywhere… and so are His ears.
d. The liar may escape punishment on earth… but never before God.
e. And even if God doesn’t punish him on earth—the day of reckoning will come… and we shall give account for every idle word… and every lie or deception.
f. Lies may escape the notice of man, but nothing ever escapes the notice of the Lord.
g. Num. 32:32 – “Behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.”
3. The repetition here (shall not be unpunished; shall not escape) IMPLIES that liars continue to lie because they THINK they can get away with it…
a. They THINK that they shall escape…
b. Ecc. 8:11 – because judgment doesn’t immediately fall, sinners think they can sin with impunity. “I haven’t been caught yet. Therefore I won’t get caught!”
c. But in direct contrast to what sinners think, God SAYS, “he shall not escape!”
4. Lying and deception are sins of which we are ALL guilty.
a. Ps. 119:29 – the psalmist asked for help concerning lying.
b. Pr. 30:8 – Solomon also asked for deliverance from this sin
c. The Bible is full of the accounts of the lies of men… from Abraham, Sarah, Jacob, David, Peter, etc…
d. Lying is our nature. It is the fruit of the flesh.
e. God can give victory—He delights in giving victory.
f. Eph. 4:25 – And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. 25Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour.
• Lying belongs to the old man… the old way of life.
• Lying is described as the garments of the old man and the old life that is to be “put off.”
• Lying is to be replaced with truth telling… always.
• A liar can become a truth teller… by putting off and putting on…
• And over time, character is being built… as either a liar or a truthful person.
• And it really is an issue of character: if a person lies and shows disregard to truth… he will likely cheat… and perhaps steal… dishonesty breeds dishonesty.
• But by walking DAILY in the Spirit, with our hearts right with God, we WILL be practicing truthfulness… and will earn the reputation of a truthful, honest person.